Effects of plasticizer on the transient diffraction properties of polarization holographic gratings made from polarization-sensitive polymeric films

We recorded anisotropic gratings by polarization holographic recording in azobenzene-containing polymeric films doped with a 9-ethylcarbazole (ECZ) plasticizer. Using a polarimeter, we measured in real time the Stokes parameters of the beams diffracted from the gratings. We analyzed these data on the basis of a theoretical model that accounted for the distribution of birefringence caused by molecular reorientation as well as for surface relief deformation caused by mass transportation. Our results indicated that increasing ECZ doping level increased the formation speed of the anisotropic grating, but did not greatly affect the amplitude of the photoinduced birefringence.